US Air Force's Top Tactical Experts Beaten By RaspberryPi Powered AI

A new RaspberryPi powered artificial intelligence flight combat system known as ALPHA beat one of the US Air Force's top tactical expert in a dogfight.

According to Newsweek, the US Airforce has just finished completing the dogfight trials in a simulation against retired US Air Force Colonel Gene Lee. The AI which is powered by RaspberryPi computer was intentionally crippled but it still managed to shoot its human counterpart every chance he gets and dodge every kill attempts.

University of Cincinnati Magazine published the details of what happened. It was also there that the ALPHA AI itself was explained to have been developed by UC offshoot Psibernetix, Inc. as an independent wingman to a human pilot. After ALPHA defeated a variety of different AI counterparts, Col. Lee started another simulation, this time against a "mature" version of the ALPHA code.

"I was surprised at how aware and reactive it was," Lee told UC Magazine. "It seemed to be aware of my intentions and reacting instantly to my changes in flight and my missile deployment. It knew how to defeat the shot I was taking. It moved instantly between defensive and offensive actions as needed."

The register.co.uk reported that Lee has been battling AI systems aboard a flight simulator for years and said that they are not that difficult to defeat. However, ALPHA's reaction times and unpredictability made it a fantastic counterpart. "I go home feeling washed out. I'm tired, drained and mentally exhausted. This may be artificial intelligence, but it represents a real challenge," said Lee.

It was also explained that the key to the software is the use of a "Genetic Fuzzy Tree" system, which breaks down complicated decisions into simpler if/then scenarios and narrows down the possible choices very quickly. The code then works through its plans 250 times faster than a human can blink.

Nick Ernest, the brain behind ALPHA, now hopes to continue developing the AI as the CEO and president of the firm Psibernetix. It is believed that the future ALPHA could be used to help the armed forces in actual combat situations as an AI wingman to make tactical plans and decrease the chances of mistakes being committed in mid-air.

Kelly Cohen, an aerospace professor at the University of Cincinnati, said: "ALPHA would be an extremely easy AI to cooperate with and have as a teammate. ALPHA could continuously determine the optimal ways to perform tasks commanded by its manned wingman, as well as provide tactical and situational advice to the rest of its flight," engadget.com reported.